Ian Begley Thu, October 29, 2026 at 5:30 AM UTC · 4 min read About Our Ads Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Knicks star Jalen Brunson didn't shoot well in the first four games of the season. He also didn't shoot well in the first four minutes of Wednesday's game in Chicago.
He missed three of his first four shots against the Bulls. At that moment, he was shooting 36 percent (31-for-86) on the season and 19 percent (4-for-21) from beyond the arc.
If you were getting a little antsy in the opening minutes on Wednesday, Brunson probably put you at ease over the course of the night.
The 2026 NBA Finals MVP hit six of his next nine three-pointers (12-for-21 overall) to help New York rebound from a 19-point third quarter deficit and take the second game of a back-to-back .
He finished with a season-high 38 points, seven assists, and two steals in New York's first road win of the year.
The Knicks shot a season-high 46 percent from three and 45 percent overall in the comeback win.
They looked like the potent offense that emerged late last regular season and then again in Game 4 of their first-round series win over the Hawks.
For what it's worth, Mike Brown was not panicked at all about his team's shooting.
"The biggest thing is: are we getting good shots from the right people? Watching the film and watching the game, I think we are," Brown said before the Knicks' win over Detroit on Tuesday. "We've had some pretty good looks from the right people at the right time that normally go in so I want them to keep shooting."
After a slow start, Brunson and his teammates certainly kept shooting - and shooting well - on Wednesday night.
The difference for New York in the past two games has been taking care of the minor details on both ends of the floor.
"(We've got to) focus on the little things until we get our rhythm. Once we get a rhythm, continue to do the little things. It' a big point of emphasis right no, our attention to detail."
They executed enough of the little things and big things to leave Chicago with a win. Next up? Friday night in Philadelphia.
Oct 28, 2026; Chicago, Illinois, USA; New York Knicks guard Jalen Brunson (11) drives to the basket against Chicago Bulls forward Matas Buzelis (14) during the second half at United Center. / Matt Marton-Imagn Images
If you see a lineup this season that you haven't seen the last two years, don't get alarmed. That's Mike Brown's way of stress-testing some ideas.
"There's some things that I'm looking at or messing with that may or may not stay the same," Brown said. "That's part of what you're trying to do to figure out what's best for your team long term."
One example? Brown played lineups with Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns on the bench in the first two games. Brown abandoned that idea. But don't be surprised if you see a few non-traditional lineups over the next couple of weeks as Brown gets a feel for this year's version of the team.
Tyler Kolek has move the ball well during Jose Alvarado 's absence.
Alvarado missed his third straight game due to an ankle injury. Kolek played well, finishing with nine assists and zero turnovers. He has 21 assists and zero turnovers over the last three games. If you're wondering what Brown expects of Kolek, the coach laid it all out on Tuesday:
"He's gotta run the team. What I mean by that is, when you watch our games, when he goes on the floor, people get up into his chest when he's trying to run our offense. He can't get off the ball too early, if it's just one guy," Brown explained. "He's gotta be able to go by that guy and get the guy off-balance and bring it back out and set our offense up and/or get by and make a play in the paint. He can't let pressure bother him or disrupt our offense at all.
"And then defensively, he's gotta be a pest. He's gotta be nasty, not anything illegal or anything like that, just a guy that people wanna say 'get off me, get off me,' because he's more than capable of doing that. He's gotta play with some sort of force, particularly for his size."
Whether or not Kolek checked those boxes is open to interpretation. But, objectively speaking, Kolek has made some great reads with the ball - and protected it.
Kolek wasn't the only Knick to thrive off the bench Wednesday. Landry Shamet and Jordan Clarkson combined for 32 points on 12-for-21 shooting. New York outscored Chicago by 13 with either Shamet or Clarkson on the floor Wednesday.
Source: Sports
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